Does a windows 8.1 oem key still work for a windows 10 installation

lexluthermiester · Jan 16, 2019

Vario said:
My win 7 64 pro system builder bought from Newegg and win 7 64 home OEM (from a cyberpower) keys didn't work with Win 10 activation, and they are legit and activate fine with 7. Thats fine with me, because I just ended up sticking with Win 7 and will go to 8.1 when 7 period ends in a year, or I will buy a 10 key at that time. But while a lot of people say they still activate, mine didn't. Funny enough, I have used four different motherboards with that same Win 7 64 system builder key and no issues activating in 7.

To be fair, the OP is talking about Win 8.1. It's possible that MS is allowing 8/8.1 keys to activate 10.

erpguy53 · Jan 19, 2019

lexluthermiester said:
To be fair, the OP is talking about Win 8.1. It's possible that MS is allowing 8/8.1 keys to activate 10.

MS is still allowing it. the embedded win8.1 oem key on my dad's Toshiba laptop (which was purchased near the end of 2013), still worked when upgrading to win10 and win10 was activated automatically by digital license

Ruru · Jan 19, 2019

Feels like that it works with pure luck what I've read.

Heh, when installed W10 on this setup, I had luckily a serial on my warehouse HDD on a txt file. I'm 99% sure that I've bought that serial when I've been drunk since I have no clue where it's from.

e: Didn't activate with MS account, dunno why. IIRC this is the 3rd serial on my MS account, dammit.

Flyordie · Jan 20, 2019

RCoon said:
You can install Windows 10 without a key entirely, and quite easily, but it won't be licensed and will harass you forever. No matter which way you look at it, your non-Windows 10 key will not activate Windows 10.

My Windows 7 Professional key activated my Windows 10 Pro installation.

johnspack · Jan 20, 2019

I'll bet they still allow win7 to upgrade. I will never try, linux all the way baby! But yeah, I bet they will allow it.... They want everyone on win10, so why not?

Shou Miko · Jan 20, 2019

I am still using my original Windows 8 Pro key and I reinstalled in November 2019 or something only thing I had to do was talk to a woman at microsoft saying it started to ask for activation after reinstalling and she cleared the key.

Honestly I changed board and cpu back in August 2019 no issues until reinstall Microsoft just need to realize normal people do change hardware sometimes and do like if the Windows 10 hardware id changes and the key is legit it should automatically just clear it after 5 times of hardware id change or something so we will never have a problem.

Athlonite · Jan 20, 2019

puma99dk| said:
I am still using my original Windows 8 Pro key and I reinstalled in November 2019

You time traveler you

Shou Miko · Jan 20, 2019

Athlonite said:
You time traveler you

Well it's right next to my computer table in a DVD rack I use for games so it's always handy dandy and ready to be used

Space Lynx · Jan 20, 2019

give me stock market tips @puma99dk|

Kappa

Shou Miko · Jan 20, 2019

lynx29 said:
give me stock market tips @puma99dk|

Kappa

That will leave you crashing and burning never been good with stocks in the first place @lynx29 :roll:

Space Lynx · Jan 20, 2019

puma99dk| said:
That will leave you crashing and burning never been good with stocks in the first place @lynx29

nah mate, i was making a joke because the other guy said you were a time traveler, and you had a typo saying you were from November 2019...

Shou Miko · Jan 20, 2019

lynx29 said:
nah mate, i was making a joke because the other guy said you were a time traveler, and you had a typo saying you were from November 2019...

Just having a bad week still battling with Windows 10 and it's general issues it has but at least my computer is stable and no crashes

Darmok N Jalad · Jan 21, 2019

I ran into issues last December when I upgraded a motherboard and CPU. It was with a retail Windows 8 key that I had used to upgrade to Windows 10 long ago under my MSA. I actually had been using the key under 8.1 for MCE use, but with a new CPU, I figured it was time to go to Win10. I was only using the key on one machine, same storage and case, etc—something I’ve done before. Still, Windows 10 wouldn’t activate, with cryptic error codes that basically said the key is not valid. I was signed into my MS account, which I thought was supposed to help with these sort of changes. I also tried an old Windows 7 key that had also been upgraded to 10, but same error.

Nothing I tried worked, so I called support. It took a few calls to India, and eventually MS remoted in to my PC, asked for visual proof of purchase of my new hardware, proof of purchase of my Windows 8 key (glad I kept the email), and then they gave me a new key. It was a really weird experience, to be honest. Much harder than it needed to be, IMO. They also told me that my old key for 8 will no longer work. I also have an iMac, and I must say, it’s nice to be able to install/reinstall macOS without these concerns. I’m still not sure why it all fell apart. Maybe I did too many hardware changes, but I thought that was not a problem with a retail key.

jboydgolfer · Jan 21, 2019

i have used win7 keys as of a few months ago, but im not sure, if it will on 8, or if it is still active. mine was OEM. worst case scenario, just try it.

@Darmok N Jalad , where the walls fell

Naki · Jan 24, 2019

This very much works.
However, if you had a Windows 7 Home Basic/Home Premium key, this is what you get - Windows 10 Home.
So, not any option for me, as Home edition lacks the MS RDC, which I use on my PCs all the time.

Processor	AMD Phenom II X4 925
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 R2
Memory	4 GB DDR3 1333Mhz
Audio Device(s)	onboard Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Seasonic S12II 620w (SS-620GB)
Software	Windows 10 Education x64 21H2

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X @ PBO +200 -20CO
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50, EKWB Vector TUF
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF OC 10GB
Storage	A pack of SSDs totaling 3.2TB + 3TB HDDs
Display(s)	27" 4K120 IPS + 32" 4K60 IPS + 24" 1080p60
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless / Corsair HS35
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus ROG Strix Edge Nordic
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis

System Name	Budget AMD System
Processor	Threadripper 1900X @ 4.1Ghz (100x41 @ 1.3250V)
Motherboard	Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7
Cooling	EKWB X399 Monoblock
Memory	4x8GB GSkill TridentZ RGB 14-14-14-32 CR1 @ 3266
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon RX Vega₆⁴ Liquid @ 1,800Mhz Core, 1025Mhz HBM2
Storage	1x ADATA SX8200 NVMe, 1x Segate 2.5" FireCuda 2TB SATA, 1x 500GB HGST SATA
Display(s)	Vizio 22" 1080p 60hz TV (Samsung Panel)
Case	Corsair 570X
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic X Series 850W KM3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	System2 Blacknet , System1 Blacknet2
Processor	System2 Threadripper 1920x, System1 2699 v3
Motherboard	System2 Asrock Fatality x399 Professional Gaming, System1 Asus X99-A
Cooling	System2 Noctua NH-U14 TR4-SP3 Dual 140mm fans, System1 AIO
Memory	System2 64GBS DDR4 3000, System1 32gbs DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	System2 GTX 980Ti System1 GTX 970
Storage	System2 4x SSDs + NVme= 2.250TB 2xStorage Drives=8TB System1 3x SSDs=2TB
Display(s)	1x27" 1440 display 1x 24" 1080 display
Case	System2 Some Nzxt case with soundproofing...
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar U7 MKII
Power Supply	System2 EVGA 750 Watt, System1 XFX XTR 750 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Archlinux, Manjaro, Win11 Ent 24h2
Benchmark Scores	It's linux baby!

System Name	Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad L14 G2
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael (Waiting on 9800X3D) \ i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake-U
Motherboard	ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 3.10 AMD AGESA 1.2.0.2a \ Lenowo BDPLANAR Bios 1.68
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo C-267C-2
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX™ 4070 Dual OC (Waiting on RX 8800 XT) \| Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Storage	Gigabyte M30 1TB\|Sabrent Rocket 2TB\| HDD: 10TB\|1TB \ WD RED SN700 1TB
Display(s)	KTC M27T20S 1440p@165Hz \| LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR \| Innolux 14" 1080p
Case	Asus Prime AP201 White Mesh \| Lenowo L14 G2 chassis
Audio Device(s)	Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie \| 65W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless \| Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard	Ducky One 3 Daybreak Fullsize \| L14 G2 UK Lumi
Software	Win11 IoT Enterprise 24H2 UK \| Win11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 24H2 UK / Arch (Fan)
Benchmark Scores	3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr

Does a windows 8.1 oem key still work for a windows 10 installation

lexluthermiester

erpguy53

Ruru

S.T.A.R.S.

Flyordie

johnspack

Here For Good!

Shou Miko

Athlonite

Shou Miko

Space Lynx

Astronaut

Shou Miko

Space Lynx

Astronaut

Shou Miko

Darmok N Jalad

jboydgolfer

Naki

System Name	Cumquat 2021
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Strix X670E - E Gaming WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool LT720 + CM MasterGel Pro TP + Lian Li Uni Fan V2
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 6000
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ OC RX6800 16GB DDR6 2270Cclk / 2010Mclk
Storage	1x Adata SX8200PRO NVMe 1TB gen3 x4 1X Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Gen 4 x4 1TB, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 IPS 144Hz FreeSync Premium 1920x1080p
Case	Lian Li O11D XL ROG edition
Audio Device(s)	RX6800 via HDMI + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W 5.1 Speaker set
Power Supply	EVGA 1000W G5 Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core Wired
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 X64 PRO (build 23H2)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even more less now ;)

System Name	Budget Box
Processor	Xeon E5-2667v2
Motherboard	ASUS P9X79 Pro
Cooling	Some cheap tower cooler, I dunno
Memory	32GB 1866-DDR3 ECC
Video Card(s)	XFX RX 5600XT
Storage	WD NVME 1GB
Display(s)	ASUS Pro Art 27"
Case	Antec P7 Neo

System Name	Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor	i7-11700K
Motherboard	Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A
Memory	32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Reference
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s)	Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case	Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard	AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software	Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	the MLGeesiest

System Name	Main PC/OldPC/3rd PC
Processor	Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge/Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge/Core i3-4330 Haswell
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z77-V/ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen1/ASUS H81M2
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO/Intel Box cooler/Intel Box cooler
Memory	32GB Corsair Vengeance/32GB ADATA/16GB ADATA
Video Card(s)	SAPPHIRE R9 290 Tri-X OC 4GB/MSI RX 480 8GB/SAPPHIRE R9 390 8GB
Storage	2x1TB ADATA SSDs in RAID0+3 HDDs/2xCrucial 1TB SSDs in RAID0+3 HDDs/Samsung 1TB SSD+8TB+4TB HDDs
Display(s)	Philips 274E5QHAB@HDMI + Philips 273EQH@DVI (both 27")
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Titanium
Audio Device(s)	Kenwood Mini HiFi system/Microlab speakers/Philips HDMI (main)+LG TV monitor HDMI + Apple headphones
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent ProM 600 W (modular)
Mouse	Microsoft Ergonomic Sculpt Desktop 2.0 (combo)@Razer Goliath mousepad (Medium speed)
Keyboard	Microsoft Ergonomic Sculpt Desktop 2.0 (combo)
Software	Win10 64-bit (Main PC v.1809 RTM Enterprise/2nd PC v.1903 Insider Preview Pro/3rd PC - same as 2nd)